My mother was struck by a car, and her leg rolled over in a parking lot in Grindelwald. She had to be taken to Interlaken and have surgery to repair broken ankle, and stayed six nights. The driver was entering the lot passed by us, then changed direction and reversed into my poor mom (71 years old, by the way). The driver is French (on holiday as well), and was questioned by local police. We're told report will be sent to a judge for ruling. Meanwhile, my mom due to return to the states Monday (Aug. 25), had to buy upgrade in plane to have leg room to fully extend. Between that, the hospital stay, ambulance, etc the bills are adding up. Should she do anything else (legal advise) before leaving or wait for ruling and hope that the driver's insurance will reimburse her medical/accident costs?
Anyone have experience with getting costs paid by others?

Wouldn't her holiday insurance cover it all? Seems, from what you say, all was done through the proper channels, i.e. involving the police, so her holiday insurance shouldn't have any problems reimbursing her in accordance with its policy.

I guess your mother's holiday insurance company will recoup the costs from the driver's insurance so she won't have to go through the agony or sorting out the legal situation herself.

As Sandgrounder says, her travel insurance should deal with this. You could also contact the US Embassy who have, no doubt, dealt with similar situations.

She did not purchase extra insurance for her trip...of course not wise in hindsight. Her regular insurance will cover some of the expense, but in the US the responsible driver's insurance would have been billed directly. The US embassy was contacted and they referred us to the cantonal authority assisting victims of violent crime. I am a little concerned with all the claims as we are now going to be dealing with three countries.

...as it would be here in Europe but only if you have the relevant insurance.

Sometimes the extra cost of travel insurance is worth it!

Are they sure it is a "violent crime" . This seems like a case of "careless driving" or "driving without care and attention" at the worst.

There has been an assumption that your mother HAS separate holiday insurance. If it is ruled the driver's fault, his insurance certainly should cover her treatment, and possibly the upgraded plane fare. If your mother does have holiday insurance, she should submit everything there, and the insurance companies ought to fight it out. She should be reimbursed through her policy, and they should deal with the driver's company.

If it hasn't been done, I would have your mother write down what happened in her own summary and make sketches (photos would be ideal) of the location and what occured while it is still relatively fresh in memory. Date any documents like that. It can never hurt, especially if one needed to challenge a ruling.

For any bills that arrive, get documentation proving the expense was medically necessary. For example, if you can get a doctor to state in writing that she needed more space on the plane, do it! It may be "obvious", but documentation is best, and could indeed be required.

If her only coverage is through Medicare, contact them to see what they might cover (www.medicare.gov). I suspect it is limited outside the US, but may at least cover some emergency care.

Good luck and a speedy recovery to your mother!

I think your mother would be best advised to see a lawyer (and I'm not saying this because I happen to be one).

She should lodge a claim against the driver-at-fault's compulsory third party insurer. It is best to do this as early as possible as there may be time periods you need to adhere to.

As part of this claim process, she can seek reimbursement of her medical and out-of-pocket expenses related to her injury (most likely including the flight upgrade).

Unfortunately, the claims process can sometimes be quite lengthy, but the quicker you lodge a claim, the better. Generally, insurers will reimburse your out-of-pocket expenses to date before they will finalise the claim, and they can also provide assistance/funding with future medical care and expenses (such as physiotherapy, x-rays, etc).

If your mother's travel insurance happens to cover some of the expenses, the insurers will sort it out between themselves as to who pays what.

Unless you feel comfortable handling the claim yourself (or whether your mother will do so), I would recommend seeing a lawyer, preferably a French-speaking one who can deal with the driver's insurance company in France. A lawyer will be best placed to handle your mother's claim, i.e. determine which country's law is applicable, what your mother is entitled to claim, properly document her expenses, etc. Though, you should be fully appraised of what legal fees are applicable before you sign any client agreement with the lawyer. It might be worth just spending an hour with a lawyer to see what they can do for you.

Otherwise, it sounds like the ruling of the Swiss judge is merely to determine who was at fault for the accident, unless there are criminal charges against the driver? In any event, this information will be used by the compulsory third party insurer to determine whether they are liable to indemnify the driver-at-fault, but your mother will need to lodge a claim with this insurer in order to seek compensation. Even if she had sufficient travel insurance, it would be advisable to lodge a separate motor vehicle accident claim; the latter will enable her to seek compensation for items not available under a travel insurance policy. You can PM me for more details if you like.

Yes, I would feel a little better talking with a lawyer...but time is of the essence, and she is not up and around much. So, we will probably visit with someone after she leaves. My mom is documenting everything and we have photographed the black and blue leg...and she is recording the expenses.

Lucikly we were able to leave the hospital without putting the entire 18K bill on her credit cards. They accepted a partial payment.

I'm not sure if the police actually charged the driver with anything. I just know the last we saw, he was still being detained about two hours after the accident.

thanks for all the advice!